Steering assist

ABSTRACT

A steering assist system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) receives physical space data for a flight area, and creates a virtual world model to represent the flight area by mapping the physical space data with a physics engine. The steering assist system creates a virtual UAV model to represent the UAV in the virtual world model. The steering assist system determines capability parameters for the UAV, and receives flight data for the UAV. The steering assist system determines a predicted trajectory for the virtual UAV model within the virtual world model, based on the capability parameters and flight data for the UAV. The steering assist system determines a navigation suggestion for the UAV based on the predicted trajectory and capability parameters for the UAV, and displays the navigation suggestion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/402,752 entitled “STEERING ASSIST”, filed Sep.30, 2016. The aforementioned application is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 62/402,747 entitled “COLLISION DETECTION AND AVOIDANCE”, filed Sep.30, 2016, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/402,737entitled “REMOTE CONTROLLED OBJECT MACRO AND AUTOPILOT SYSTEM”, filedSep. 30, 2016, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This application relates to remote controlled piloting, and moreparticularly to a system and method for assisted steering for unmannedaerial vehicles.

Description of the Related Art

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone orquadricopter, or by several other names, is an aircraft without a humanpilot aboard. The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees ofautonomy: either under remote control by a human operator, or fully orintermittently autonomously, by onboard computers.

Drones may be used for racing games or competition that consist infollowing a path that is defined like a slalom by single or double gatesor posts, and by a finish line. In order to win the race, it isessential to fly fast. And in order to achieve the fastest time, it isnecessary to fly at the highest speed while conserving a maximum amountof kinetic energy during turns. To optimally navigate a drone racingcourse, a pilot may need to fly the drone along a very specific flightpath or racing line.

Piloting a drone require the user to be skilled as the pilot must useseveral different controls in combination in order to operate the dronecorrectly. In addition, drones are often flown in the vicinity ofvarious natural and manmade obstacles, of which the drones may crashinto.

Drones are both expensive and fragile. A collision, even at low speeds,can cause serious damage or complete destruction to the drone, from theinitial impact or from the subsequent impact with the ground. Even anexperienced pilot, when piloting the drone at a high speed, may makepiloting mistakes that may cost the user seconds in a race or damage tothe drone. As such, users may benefit from steering assistance whenpiloting drones.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENTLY CLAIMED INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodimentsin order to provide a basic understanding of present technology. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments ofthe present technology, and is intended to neither identify key orcritical elements of all examples nor delineate the scope of any or allaspects of the present technology. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more examples in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the examples described herein,systems and methods are provided for steering assist for an unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV).

In an aspect, a steering assist system for an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) receives physical space data for a flight area, and creates avirtual world model to represent the flight area by mapping the physicalspace data with a physics engine. The steering assist system creates avirtual UAV model to represent the UAV in the virtual world model. Thesteering assist system determines capability parameters for the UAV, andreceives flight data for the UAV. The steering assist system determinesa predicted trajectory for the virtual UAV model within the virtualworld model, based on the capability parameters and flight data for theUAV. The steering assist system determines a navigation suggestion forthe UAV based on the predicted trajectory and capability parameters forthe UAV, and displays the navigation suggestion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other sample aspects of the present technology will bedescribed in the detailed description and the appended claims thatfollow, and in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example steering assist system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);

FIG. 3 illustrates an example controller device;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example head-mounted display (HMD);

FIG. 5 illustrates an example methodology for managing flight paths foran unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example graphics pipeline in theprior art; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure provides techniques for assisted steering forunmanned aerial vehicles, in accordance with the subject technology.Various aspects of the present technology are described with referenceto the drawings. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It can be evident,however, that the present technology can be practiced without thesespecific details In other instances, well-known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing theseaspects. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as anexample, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example steering assist system100. The steering assist system 100 can include an unmanned aerialvehicle (UAV) 110, a computing device 160, a controller device 150, anda display device 140. It is understood that the computing device 160,the controller device 150, and the display device 140 can be integratedinto a single device or multiple connected devices. Similarly, the UAV110 and the computing device 160 can be integrated into a single deviceor multiple connected devices.

A user of the controller device 150 is in control of flight by the UAV110 while the steering assist system 100 provides navigation suggestionsto the user in real-time. In some implementations, the steering assistsystem 100 can take control away from the user of the controller 150 toexecute the navigation suggestions.

The computing device 160 can be a personal computer, a laptop, a smartphone, tablet, a server, a mobile device, a game console system, orother such device. The computing device includes a processor 162, agraphics processing unit (GPU) 164, a physics engine 166, and a memory168. It is understood that one or more of the processor 162, the GPU164, the physics engine 166, or the memory 168 can be integrated into asingle unit or exist as separate units.

The UAV 110 can include a processor 101, motors 104, a globalpositioning system (GPS) tracker 105, various sensors 106, one or morecameras 107, and a transceiver 108.

In some implementations, the controller device 150 and/or display device140 can include a personal computer, a laptop, a smart phone, tablet, aserver, a mobile device, a game controller, a game console, atelevision, or other such device. In some implementations, the displaydevice is a head-mounted display (HMD) such as a virtual reality HMD oran augmented reality (AR) HMD. The VR HMD allows a user of to adjust acamera viewing angle or position in a virtual space by moving orrotating his head in the physical space. The AR HMD places images ofboth the physical world and virtual objects over the user's field ofview.

The display device 140 displays visual information to the user. Forexample, the display device 140 can display a livestream of first personview of the UAV 110 from a camera on the UAV 110. The display device 140can also display battery life remaining, speed, altitude, distancetraveled, position of the UAV 107, wind conditions, connection signalstrength, etc. to the user. In some implementations, the display device140 indicates to the user when the steering assist system 100 takes overcontrol of the UAV 110.

The user operates the controller device 150 to control the UAV 110during normal operation. The controller device 150 can include one ormore analog or digital input options. Analog input options includeflight stick or joystick controls, triggers, sliders, throttles, dials,etc. Digital input options include buttons, switches, etc.

The steering assist system 100 receives physical space data for a flightarea. The physical space data refers to any data that helps the steeringassist system 100 map out the flight area.

In some implementations, the physical space data includes pre-mappeddata for the flight area. For example the pre-mapped data can beuploaded by the user to the steering assist system 100 prior to flight.In another example, the pre-mapped data can be downloaded from an onlinedatabase.

In some implementations, the steering assist system 100 receives thephysical space data in real-time and includes sensor data from thesensors 106 on the UAV and/or external sensors 120 placed around theflight area. In some implementations, the steering assist system 100creates the virtual world in real-time using simultaneous localizationand mapping (SLAM). SLAM relates to the computational problem ofconstructing or updating a map of an unknown environment whilesimultaneously keeping track of an agent's location within it.

The steering assist system 100 creates a virtual world model torepresent the flight area. The steering assist system 100 creates thevirtual world model by mapping the physical space data with a physicsengine 166. The steering assist system 100 additionally creates avirtual UAV model to represent the UAV in the virtual world model.

The physics engine 166 creates a three-dimensional mesh representing avirtual world. A mesh is a collection of vertices, edges and faces thatdefines the shape of a polyhedral object for use in three-dimensionalmodeling. The faces usually include triangles, quadrilaterals, or othersimple convex polygons, but can also include more general concavepolygons, or polygons with holes. A vertex is a position (usually in 3Dspace) along with other information such as color, normal vector andtexture coordinates. An edge is a connection between two vertices. Aface is a closed set of edges (e.g., a triangle face has tree edges anda quad face has four edges).

Polygon meshes may be represented in a variety of ways, using differentmethods to store the vertex, edge and face data. Examples of polygonmesh representations include Face-vertex meshes, Winged-edge meshes,Half-edge meshes, Quad-edge meshes, Corner-table meshes, andVertex-vertex meshes.

The physics engine 166 includes one or more computer programs and/oralgorithms that simulate or model the motion of an object under physicallaws of the real world. The physics engine 166 uses equationsincorporating variables such as mass, position information, velocity,forces, engine constraints and others in performing the simulation. Thesimulation provides a representation of an interaction in the virtualworld model for the virtual UAV model.

The physics engine 166 simulates physical phenomena though the use ofrigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics and/or fluid dynamicsprinciples. The physics engine 166 includes collision detection system,which seeks to detect when objects in a virtual environment collide withone another. Typically, simulation and display operations are performedseveral times a second. Each simulation and display operation occursduring a time step described as a frame.

Thus, the physics engine 166 can be implemented using an API,middleware, or other computer software implementation. While the physicsengine 166 is running, during a given frame, the physics engine 166steps forward in time and simulates any interaction outcomes during thenext time step and then output the results.

The steering assist system 100 determines capability parameters of theUAV. The capability parameters include at least one of maximum speed,maximum acceleration, maximum deceleration, or turning rate. In someimplementations, the capability parameters of the UAV 110 are known andstored in the memory 168. In some other implementations, the capabilityparameters can be downloaded from an online database. In someimplementations, the steering assist system 100 can perform a flighttest on the UAV 110 to determine the capability parameters.

The steering assist system 100 receives flight data for the UAV 110, asit flies along a flight path and performs maneuvers, from the sensors106. The sensors 106 can include at least one of a camera, an infra-red(IR) sensor, a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a proximitysensor, a radar, a sonar sensor, or other such sensors. In someimplementations, the flight data includes controller inputs from acontroller device.

The steering assist system 100 determines a current position of thevirtual UAV model in the virtual world model. In some implementations,the steering assist system 100 determines the position of the positionof the UAV 110 in the real world using the GPS tracker 105 whichconnects to a GPS satellite.

The steering assist system 100 determines a predicted trajectory of thevirtual UAV model within the virtual world model. In someimplementations, the steering assist system 100 determines the positionof the UAV 110 in the real world using external sensors 120 that trackthe UAV's position, such as cameras, sonar sensors, or LiDAR sensorsplaced around the flight area. In some implementations, the steeringassist system 100 determines the current position of UAV 110 using theflight data and correspondingly updates the current position of thevirtual UAV model in the virtual world model.

In some implementations, determining the predicted trajectory of the UAVcomprises an inertial navigation system (INS) using a dead reckoningalgorithm to calculate the current position of the UAV. An INS is anavigation aid that uses sensors such as motion sensors (accelerometers)and rotation sensors (gyroscopes) to continuously calculate via deadreckoning the position, orientation, and velocity (direction and speedof movement) of a moving object without the need for externalreferences. In some implementations, the steering assist system 100receives sensor data from one or more sensors 106 on the UAV 110, as itflies. The sensors 106 can include cameras, accelerometers, gyroscopes,distance sensors, Light Detection and Ranging sensors, or other suchsensor.

Inertial navigation is a self-contained navigation technique in whichmeasurements provided by accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to trackthe position and orientation of an object relative to a known startingpoint, orientation and velocity. Inertial measurement units (IMUs)typically contain three orthogonal rate-gyroscopes and three orthogonalaccelerometers, measuring angular velocity and linear accelerationrespectively. By processing signals from these devices it is possible topredict the position and orientation of the UAV 110.

Gyroscopes measure the angular velocity of the sensor frame with respectto the inertial reference frame. By using the original orientation ofthe system in the inertial reference frame as the initial condition andintegrating the angular velocity, the system's current orientation isknown at all times. Accelerometers measure the linear acceleration ofthe moving vehicle in the sensor or body frame, but in directions thatcan only be measured relative to the moving.

The inertial navigation system suffer from integration drift, which aresmall errors in the measurement of acceleration and angular velocity areintegrated into progressively larger errors in velocity, which arecompounded into still greater errors in position. Since the new positionis calculated from the previous calculated position and the measuredacceleration and angular velocity, these errors accumulate roughlyproportionally to the time since the initial position was input.

The steering assist system 100 then determines a navigation suggestionfor the UAV based on the predicted trajectory and capability parametersfor the UAV 110. In some implementations, the navigation suggestion isfor a flight path of the UAV 110 that is faster through the virtualworld model of the flight area than the predicted trajectory. In someimplementations, the steering assist system 100 updates the navigationsuggestion in real time, based on the current speed and direction of theUAV 110 as modeled by the virtual UAV model, in relation to the virtualworld model of the flight area.

In some implementations, the navigation suggestion is for a flight pathof the UAV 110 that also avoids collision with an income obstacle. Insome implementations, the physics engine 166 includes a collisiondetector which generates contact points between an object pair, such astwo rigid bodies. The physics engine 166 determines whether any of theobjects in the virtual world model are colliding or overlapping. This isaccomplished using a collision detection system. The primary focus ofthe collision detection system is to calculate all collision informationbetween all bodies in a scene.

The physics engine 166 calculates constraints, which are restrictions onthe freedom of movement of objects, allowing the creation of complexsystems such as hinges, body joints, and wheels. A constraint betweentwo bodies restricts the movement for a those bodies in a certain way.An unconstrained body has 6 degrees of freedom (3 linear and 3 angular).At any given time, a constraint removes certain degrees of freedom ofone body relative to another. For example, if two bodies are constrainedby a hinge, all linear degrees of freedom at the point of constraint,and two angular degrees of freedom are removed. As a result, theconstraint only allows the bodies to rotate in one axis relative to eachother. Such a constraint is bilateral, in that the bodies may notviolate the constraint in either direction.

A contact between two bodies can also be treated as a constraint, inthat the bodies are constrained such that they may not move towards eachother at the point of contact. This type of a constraint is a contactconstraint. In a rigid body system, rigid bodies should notinterpenetrate. This results in the effective removal of one lineardegree of freedom in the direction of the normal of the contact. Contactconstraints are unilateral, in that bodies in contact are onlyconstrained not to move towards each other, movement apart isunconstrained.

The steering assist system 100 performs evasive actions by the UAV 110based on the capability parameters of the UAV, in response todetermining that the predicted trajectory will result in a collision.For example, the evasive actions may include overriding controllerinputs from a controller device to control the UAV to perform braking ora banking maneuver by adjusting at least one of a roll, pitch, yaw, orthrottle of the UAV to avoid an obstacle in the physical world.

The GPU 164 of the steering assist system 100 displays the navigationsuggestion to the user on the display device 140. In someimplementations, the GPU 164 displays a graphical user interface (GUI)on a head-mounted display (HMD).

In some implementations, the GPU 164 outputs a graphical representationof the UAV flight path corresponding to the selected section. Forexample, a playback device can display a trace of the flight path in avirtual space on the display device 140.

In some implementations, the GPU 164 can output a graphicalrepresentation of the controller inputs. For example, a playback devicecan display a two-dimensional or three-dimensional virtual modelrepresentation of a controller device that mimics the looks and controlmovement of the physical controller device 150. For example, theplayback device can display joystick levers, buttons, sliders, etc. onthe virtual model move according to the controller inputs as thephysical controller device 150 would move. This allows a user viewingthe playback device to learn the proper controller inputs to cause theUAV 170 to move according to the flight path and perform the samemaneuvers.

In some implementations the steering assist system 100 overridingcontroller inputs from a controller device to control the UAV 110 toexecute the navigation suggestion.

The GPU 164 can also or alternatively output a video playback of thevirtual UAV model flown according to the navigation suggestion in afirst-person view, a third person view, or a static camera view. Theuser can watch and rewatch a graphical representation of the UAV fly theflight path corresponding to the selected section.

FIG. 2 shows unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 200 according to someembodiments. UAV 200 can have one or more motors 250 configured torotate attached propellers 255 in order to control the position of UAV200 in the air. UAV 200 can be configured as a fixed wing vehicle (e.g.,airplane), a rotary vehicle (e.g., a helicopter or multirotor), or ablend of the two. For the purpose of FIG. 2, axes 275 can assist in thedescription of certain features. If UAV 200 is oriented parallel to theground, the Z axis can be the axis perpendicular to the ground, the Xaxis can generally be the axis that passes through the bow and stern ofUAV 200, and the Y axis can be the axis that pass through the port andstarboard sides of UAV 200. Axes 275 are merely provided for convenienceof the description herein.

In some embodiments, UAV 200 has main body 210 with one or more arms240. The proximal end of arm 240 can attach to main body 210 while thedistal end of arm 240 can secure motor 250. Arms 240 can be secured tomain body 210 in an “X” configuration, an “H” configuration, a “T”configuration, or any other configuration as appropriate. The number ofmotors 250 can vary, for example there can be three motors 250 (e.g., a“tricopter”), four motors 250 (e.g., a “quadcopter”), eight motors(e.g., an “octocopter”), etc.

In some embodiments, each motor 255 rotates (i.e., the drive shaft ofmotor 255 spins) about parallel axes. For example, the thrust providedby all propellers 255 can be in the Z direction. Alternatively, a motor255 can rotate about an axis that is perpendicular (or any angle that isnot parallel) to the axis of rotation of another motor 255. For example,two motors 255 can be oriented to provide thrust in the Z direction(e.g., to be used in takeoff and landing) while two motors 255 can beoriented to provide thrust in the X direction (e.g., for normal flight).In some embodiments, UAV 200 can dynamically adjust the orientation ofone or more of its motors 250 for vectored thrust.

In some embodiments, the rotation of motors 250 can be configured tocreate or minimize gyroscopic forces. For example, if there are an evennumber of motors 250, then half of the motors can be configured torotate counter-clockwise while the other half can be configured torotate clockwise. Alternating the placement of clockwise andcounter-clockwise motors can increase stability and enable UAV 200 torotate about the z-axis by providing more power to one set of motors 250(e.g., those that rotate clockwise) while providing less power to theremaining motors (e.g., those that rotate counter-clockwise).

Motors 250 can be any combination of electric motors, internalcombustion engines, turbines, rockets, etc. In some embodiments, asingle motor 250 can drive multiple thrust components (e.g., propellers255) on different parts of UAV 200 using chains, cables, gearassemblies, hydraulics, tubing (e.g., to guide an exhaust stream usedfor thrust), etc. to transfer the power.

In some embodiments, motor 250 is a brushless motor and can be connectedto electronic speed controller 245. Electronic speed controller 245 candetermine the orientation of magnets attached to a drive shaft withinmotor 250 and, based on the orientation, power electromagnets withinmotor 250. For example, electronic speed controller 245 can have threewires connected to motor 250, and electronic speed controller 245 canprovide three phases of power to the electromagnets to spin the driveshaft in motor 250. Electronic speed controller 245 can determine theorientation of the drive shaft based on back-emf on the wires or bydirectly sensing to position of the drive shaft.

Transceiver 265 can receive control signals from a control unit (e.g., ahandheld control transmitter, a server, etc.). Transceiver 265 canreceive the control signals directly from the control unit or through anetwork (e.g., a satellite, cellular, mesh, etc.). The control signalscan be encrypted. In some embodiments, the control signals includemultiple channels of data (e.g., “pitch,” “yaw,” “roll,” “throttle,” andauxiliary channels). The channels can be encoded usingpulse-width-modulation or can be digital signals. In some embodiments,the control signals are received over TC/IP or similar networking stack.

In some embodiments, transceiver 265 can also transmit data to a controlunit. Transceiver 265 can communicate with the control unit usinglasers, light, ultrasonic, infra-red, Bluetooth, 802.11x, or similarcommunication methods, including a combination of methods. Transceivercan communicate with multiple control units at a time.

Position sensor 235 can include an inertial measurement unit fordetermining the acceleration and/or the angular rate of UAV 200, a GPSreceiver for determining the geolocation and altitude of UAV 200, amagnetometer for determining the surrounding magnetic fields of UAV 200(for informing the heading and orientation of UAV 200), a barometer fordetermining the altitude of UAV 200, etc. Position sensor 235 caninclude a land-speed sensor, an air-speed sensor, a celestial navigationsensor, etc.

UAV 200 can have one or more environmental awareness sensors. Thesesensors can use sonar, LiDAR, stereoscopic imaging, computer vision,etc. to detect obstacles and determine the nearby environment. Forexample, a steering assist system can use environmental awarenesssensors to determine how far away an obstacle is and, if necessary,change course.

Position sensor 235 and environmental awareness sensors can all be oneunit or a collection of units. In some embodiments, some features ofposition sensor 235 and/or the environmental awareness sensors areembedded within flight controller 230.

In some embodiments, an environmental awareness system can take inputsfrom position sensors 235, environmental awareness sensors, databases(e.g., a predefined mapping of a region) to determine the location ofUAV 200, obstacles, and pathways. In some embodiments, thisenvironmental awareness system is located entirely on UAV 200,alternatively, some data processing can be performed external to UAV200.

Camera 205 can include an image sensor (e.g., a CCD sensor, a CMOSsensor, etc.), a lens system, a processor, etc. The lens system caninclude multiple movable lenses that can be adjusted to manipulate thefocal length and/or field of view (i.e., zoom) of the lens system. Insome embodiments, camera 205 is part of a camera system which includesmultiple cameras 205. For example, two cameras 205 can be used forstereoscopic imaging (e.g., for first person video, augmented reality,etc.). Another example includes one camera 205 that is optimized fordetecting hue and saturation information and a second camera 205 that isoptimized for detecting intensity information. In some embodiments,camera 205 optimized for low latency is used for control systems while acamera 205 optimized for quality is used for recording a video (e.g., acinematic video). Camera 205 can be a visual light camera, an infraredcamera, a depth camera, etc.

A gimbal and dampeners can help stabilize camera 205 and remove erraticrotations and translations of UAV 200. For example, a three-axis gimbalcan have three stepper motors that are positioned based on a gyroscopereading in order to prevent erratic spinning and/or keep camera 205level with the ground.

Video processor 225 can process a video signal from camera 205. Forexample video process 225 can enhance the image of the video signal,down-sample or up-sample the resolution of the video signal, add audio(captured by a microphone) to the video signal, overlay information(e.g., flight data from flight controller 230 and/or position sensor),convert the signal between forms or formats, etc.

Video transmitter 220 can receive a video signal from video processor225 and transmit it using an attached antenna. The antenna can be acloverleaf antenna or a linear antenna. In some embodiments, videotransmitter 220 uses a different frequency or band than transceiver 265.In some embodiments, video transmitter 220 and transceiver 265 are partof a single transceiver.

Battery 270 can supply power to the components of UAV 200. A batteryelimination circuit can convert the voltage from battery 270 to adesired voltage (e.g., convert 12 v from battery 270 to 5 v for flightcontroller 230). A battery elimination circuit can also filter the powerin order to minimize noise in the power lines (e.g., to preventinterference in transceiver 265 and transceiver 220). Electronic speedcontroller 245 can contain a battery elimination circuit. For example,battery 270 can supply 12 volts to electronic speed controller 245 whichcan then provide 5 volts to flight controller 230. In some embodiments,a power distribution board can allow each electronic speed controller(and other devices) to connect directly to the battery.

In some embodiments, battery 270 is a multi-cell (e.g., 2 S, 3 S, 4 S,etc.) lithium polymer battery. Battery 270 can also be a lithium-ion,lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or alkaline battery. Other battery types andvariants can be used as known in the art. Additional or alternative tobattery 270, other energy sources can be used. For example, UAV 200 canuse solar panels, wireless power transfer, a tethered power cable (e.g.,from a ground station or another UAV 200), etc. In some embodiments, theother energy source can be utilized to charge battery 270 while inflight or on the ground.

Battery 270 can be securely mounted to main body 210. Alternatively,battery 270 can have a release mechanism. In some embodiments, battery270 can be automatically replaced. For example, UAV 200 can land on adocking station and the docking station can automatically remove adischarged battery 270 and insert a charged battery 270. In someembodiments, UAV 200 can pass through docking station and replacebattery 270 without stopping.

Battery 270 can include a temperature sensor for overload prevention.For example, when charging, the rate of charge can be thermally limited(the rate will decrease if the temperature exceeds a certain threshold).Similarly, the power delivery at electronic speed controllers 245 can bethermally limited—providing less power when the temperature exceeds acertain threshold. Battery 270 can include a charging and voltageprotection circuit to safely charge battery 270 and prevent its voltagefrom going above or below a certain range.

UAV 200 can include a location transponder. For example, in a racingenvironment, race officials can track UAV 200 using locationtransponder. The actual location (e.g., X, Y, and Z) can be trackedusing triangulation of the transponder. In some embodiments, gates orsensors in a track can determine if the location transponder has passedby or through the sensor or gate.

Flight controller 230 can communicate with electronic speed controller245, battery 270, transceiver 265, video processor 225, position sensor235, and/or any other component of UAV 200. In some embodiments, flightcontroller 230 can receive various inputs (including historical data)and calculate current flight characteristics. Flight characteristics caninclude an actual or predicted position, orientation, velocity, angularmomentum, acceleration, battery capacity, temperature, etc. of UAV 200.Flight controller 230 can then take the control signals from transceiver265 and calculate target flight characteristics. For example, targetflight characteristics might include “rotate×degrees” or “go to this GPSlocation”. Flight controller 230 can calculate response characteristicsof UAV 200. Response characteristics can include how electronic speedcontroller 245, motor 250, propeller 255, etc. respond, or are expectedto respond, to control signals from flight controller 230. Responsecharacteristics can include an expectation for how UAV 200 as a systemwill respond to control signals from flight controller 230. For example,response characteristics can include a determination that one motor 250is slightly weaker than other motors.

After calculating current flight characteristics, target flightcharacteristics, and response characteristics flight controller 230 cancalculate optimized control signals to achieve the target flightcharacteristics. Various control systems can be implemented during thesecalculations. For example a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) canbe used. In some embodiments, an open-loop control system (i.e., onethat ignores current flight characteristics) can be used. In someembodiments, some of the functions of flight controller 230 areperformed by a system external to UAV 200. For example, current flightcharacteristics can be sent to a server that returns the optimizedcontrol signals. Flight controller 230 can send the optimized controlsignals to electronic speed controllers 245 to control UAV 200.

In some embodiments, UAV 200 has various outputs that are not part ofthe flight control system. For example, UAV 200 can have a loudspeakerfor communicating with people or other UAVs 200. Similarly, UAV 200 canhave a flashlight or laser. The laser can be used to “tag” another UAV200.

FIG. 3 shows control transmitter 300 according to some embodiments.Control transmitter 300 can send control signals to transceiver 265.Control transmitter can have auxiliary switches 310, joysticks 315 and320, and antenna 305. Joystick 315 can be configured to send elevatorand aileron control signals while joystick 320 can be configured to sendthrottle and rudder control signals (this is termed a mode 2configuration). Alternatively, joystick 315 can be configured to sendthrottle and aileron control signals while joystick 320 can beconfigured to send elevator and rudder control signals (this is termed amode 1 configuration). Auxiliary switches 310 can be configured to setoptions on control transmitter 300 or UAV 200. In some embodiments,control transmitter 300 receives information from a transceiver on UAV200. For example, it can receive some current flight characteristicsfrom UAV 200.

FIG. 4 shows display 400 according to some embodiments. Display 400 caninclude battery 405 or another power source, display screen 410, andreceiver 415. Display 400 can receive a video stream from transmitter220 from UAV 200. Display 400 can be a head-mounted unit as depicted inFIG. 4. Display 400 can be a monitor such that multiple viewers can viewa single screen. In some embodiments, display screen 410 includes twoscreens, one for each eye; these screens can have separate signals forstereoscopic viewing. In some embodiments, receiver 415 is mounted ondisplay 4100 (as should in FIG. 4), alternatively, receiver 415 can be aseparate unit that is connected using a wire to display 400. In someembodiments, display 400 is mounted on control transmitter 300.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example methodology 500 by a steering assistsystem for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). At step 510, the steeringassist system receives physical space data for a flight area. In someimplementations, the physical space data comprises pre-mapped data forthe flight area. In some implementations, receiving physical space datacomprises receiving, in real-time, sensor data from at least one sensoron the UAV. In some implementations, the at least one sensor comprisesat least one of a camera, an infra-red (IR) sensor, a Light Detectionand Ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a proximity sensor, a radar, or a sonarsensor.

At step 520, the steering assist system creates a virtual world model torepresent the flight area by mapping the physical space data with aphysics engine. In some implementations, creating the virtual worldmodel occurs in real-time and uses simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM).

At step 530, the steering assist system creates a virtual UAV model torepresent the UAV in the virtual world model.

At step 540, the steering assist system determines capability parametersof the UAV. In some implementations, capability parameters include atleast one of maximum speed, maximum acceleration, maximum deceleration,or turning rate.

At step 550, the steering assist system receives flight data for theUAV. In some implementations, the flight data comprises sensor data fromat least one sensor on the UAV. In some implementations, the sensor datacomprises at least one of speed, altitude, direction, wind speed, winddirection. In some implementations, the flight data comprises controllerinputs from a controller device.

At step 560, the steering assist system determines a predictedtrajectory for the virtual UAV model within the virtual world model,based on the capability parameters and flight data for the UAV.

At step 570, the steering assist system determines a navigationsuggestion for the UAV based on the predicted trajectory and capabilityparameters for the UAV.

At step 580, the steering assist system displays the navigationsuggestion.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram 600 of an example graphics pipeline inthe prior art. The graphical user interface uses a graphics pipeline orrendering pipeline to create a two-dimensional representation of athree-dimensional scene. For example, OpenGL and DirectX are two of themost commonly used graphics pipelines.

Stages of the graphics pipeline include creating a scene out ofgeometric primitives (i.e., simple geometric objects such as points orstraight line segments). Traditionally this is done using triangles,which are particularly well suited to this as they always exist on asingle plane. The graphics pipeline transforms form a local coordinatesystem to a three-dimensional world coordinate system. A model of anobject in abstract is placed in the coordinate system of thethree-dimensional world. Then the graphics pipeline transforms thethree-dimensional world coordinate system into a three-dimensionalcamera coordinate system, with the camera as the origin.

The graphics pipeline then creates lighting, illuminating according tolighting and reflectance. The graphics pipeline then performs projectiontransformation to transform the three-dimensional world coordinates intoa two-dimensional view of a two-dimensional camera. In the case of aperspective projection, objects which are distant from the camera aremade smaller. Geometric primitives that now fall completely outside ofthe viewing frustum will not be visible and are discarded.

Next the graphics pipe performs rasterization. Rasterization is theprocess by which the two-dimensional image space representation of thescene is converted into raster format and the correct resulting pixelvalues are determined. From now on, operations will be carried out oneach single pixel. This stage is rather complex, involving multiplesteps often referred as a group under the name of pixel pipeline.

In some implementations, the graphical user interface performsprojecting and rasterizing based on the virtual camera. For example,each pixel in the image can be determined during the rasterizing tocreate the two-dimensional image. This two-dimensional image can then bedisplayed.

Lastly, the graphics pipeline assigns individual fragments (orpre-pixels) a color based on values interpolated from the verticesduring rasterization, from a texture in memory, or from a shaderprogram. A shader program calculates appropriate levels of color withinan image, produce special effects, and perform video post-processing.Shader programs calculate rendering effects on graphics hardware with ahigh degree of flexibility. Most shader programs use a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU).

In the example graphics pipeline show in FIG. 6, at step 610untransformed model vertices are stored in vertex memory buffers. Atstep 620 geometric primitives, including points, lines, triangles, andpolygons, are referenced in the vertex data with index buffers. At step630, tessellation converts higher-order primitives, displacement maps,and mesh patches to vertex locations and stores those locations invertex buffers. At step 640, transformations are applied to verticesstored in the vertex buffer. At step 650, clipping, back face culling,attribute evaluation, and rasterization are applied to the transformedvertices. At step 660, Pixel shader operations use geometry data tomodify input vertex and texture data, yielding output pixel colorvalues. At step 670, texture coordinates are supplied. At step 680texture level-of-detail filtering is applied to input texture values. Atstep 690 final rendering processes modify pixel color values with alpha,depth, or stencil testing, or by applying alpha blending or fog.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example processing system 700.The processing system 700 can include a processor 740, a networkinterface 750, a management controller 780, a memory 720, a storage 730,a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) 710, and a northbridge 760, and asouthbridge 770.

The processing system 700 can be, for example, a server (e.g., one ofmany rack servers in a data center) or a personal computer. Theprocessor (e.g., central processing unit (CPU)) 740 can be a chip on amotherboard that can retrieve and execute programming instructionsstored in the memory 720. The processor 740 can be a single CPU with asingle processing core, a single CPU with multiple processing cores, ormultiple CPUs. One or more buses (not shown) can transmit instructionsand application data between various computer components such as theprocessor 740, memory 720, storage 730, and networking interface 750.

The memory 720 can include any physical device used to temporarily orpermanently store data or programs, such as various forms ofrandom-access memory (RAM). The storage 730 can include any physicaldevice for non-volatile data storage such as a HDD or a flash drive. Thestorage 730 can have a greater capacity than the memory 720 and can bemore economical per unit of storage, but can also have slower transferrates.

The BIOS 710 can include a Basic Input/Output System or its successorsor equivalents, such as an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) orUnified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The BIOS 710 can include aBIOS chip located on a motherboard of the processing system 700 storinga BIOS software program. The BIOS 710 can store firmware executed whenthe computer system is first powered on along with a set ofconfigurations specified for the BIOS 710. The BIOS firmware and BIOSconfigurations can be stored in a non-volatile memory (e.g., NVRAM) 712or a ROM such as flash memory. Flash memory is a non-volatile computerstorage medium that can be electronically erased and reprogrammed.

The BIOS 710 can be loaded and executed as a sequence program each timethe processing system 700 is started. The BIOS 710 can recognize,initialize, and test hardware present in a given computing system basedon the set of configurations. The BIOS 710 can perform self-test, suchas a Power-on-Self-Test (POST), on the processing system 700. Thisself-test can test functionality of various hardware components such ashard disk drives, optical reading devices, cooling devices, memorymodules, expansion cards and the like. The BIOS can address and allocatean area in the memory 720 in to store an operating system. The BIOS 710can then give control of the computer system to the OS.

The BIOS 710 of the processing system 700 can include a BIOSconfiguration that defines how the BIOS 710 controls various hardwarecomponents in the processing system 700. The BIOS configuration candetermine the order in which the various hardware components in theprocessing system 700 are started. The BIOS 710 can provide an interface(e.g., BIOS setup utility) that allows a variety of different parametersto be set, which can be different from parameters in a BIOS defaultconfiguration. For example, a user (e.g., an administrator) can use theBIOS 710 to specify dock and bus speeds, specify what peripherals areattached to the computer system, specify monitoring of health (e.g., fanspeeds and CPU temperature limits), and specify a variety of otherparameters that affect overall performance and power usage of thecomputer system.

The management controller 780 can be a specialized microcontrollerembedded on the motherboard of the computer system. For example, themanagement controller 780 can be a BMC or a RMC. The managementcontroller 780 can manage the interface between system managementsoftware and platform hardware. Different types of sensors built intothe computer system can report to the management controller 780 onparameters such as temperature, cooling fan speeds, power status,operating system status, etc. The management controller 780 can monitorthe sensors and have the ability to send alerts to an administrator viathe network interface 750 if any of the parameters do not stay withinpreset limits, indicating a potential failure of the system. Theadministrator can also remotely communicate with the managementcontroller 780 to take some corrective action such as resetting or powercycling the system to restore functionality.

The northbridge 760 can be a chip on the motherboard that can bedirectly connected to the processor 740 or can be integrated into theprocessor 740. In some instances, the northbridge 760 and thesouthbridge 770 can be combined into a single die. The northbridge 760and the southbridge 770, manage communications between the processor 740and other parts of the motherboard. The northbridge 760 can manage tasksthat require higher performance than the southbridge 770. Thenorthbridge 760 can manage communications between the processor 740, thememory 720, and video controllers (not shown). In some instances, thenorthbridge 760 can include a video controller.

The southbridge 770 can be a chip on the motherboard connected to thenorthbridge 760, but unlike the northbridge 760, is not directlyconnected to the processor 740. The southbridge 770 can manageinput/output functions (e.g., audio functions, BIOS, Universal SerialBus (USB), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus, PCI eXtended (PCI-X) bus, PCI Expressbus, Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Serial PeripheralInterface (SPI) bus, Enhanced Serial Peripheral Interface (eSPI) bus,System Management Bus (SMBus), etc.) of the processing system 700. Thesouthbridge 770 can be connected to or can include within thesouthbridge 770 the management controller 770, Direct Memory Access(DMAs) controllers, Programmable Interrupt Controllers (PICs), and areal-time clock.

The input device 702 can be at least one of a game controller, ajoystick, a mouse, a keyboard, a touchscreen, a trackpad, or othersimilar control device. The input device 702 allows a user to provideinput data to the processing system 700.

The display device 704 can be at least one of a monitor, alight-emitting display (LED) screen, a liquid crystal display (LCD)screen, a head mounted display (HMD), a virtual reality (VR) display, aaugmented reality (AR) display, or other such output device. The displaydevice 704 allows the processing system 700 to output visual informationto a user.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the disclosure herein can be implemented or performedwith a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor can be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The operations of a method or algorithm described in connection with thedisclosure herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in anASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium can reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described can beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions can be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. Non-transitory computer-readable mediaincludes both computer storage media and communication media includingany medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from oneplace to another. A storage media can be any available media that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can includeRAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that canbe used to carry or store desired program code means in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose orspecial-purpose processor. Disk and disc, as used herein, includescompact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc(DVD), floppy disk and blue ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofnon-transitory computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein can beapplied to other variations without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to theexamples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widestscope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, by a steering assist system for anunmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising: receiving physical space datafor a flight area; creating a virtual world model to represent theflight area by mapping the physical space data with a physics engine;creating a virtual UAV model to represent the UAV in the virtual worldmodel; determining capability parameters for the UAV; receiving flightdata for the UAV; determining a predicted trajectory for the virtual UAVmodel within the virtual world model, based on the capability parametersand flight data for the UAV; determining a navigation suggestion for theUAV based on the predicted trajectory and capability parameters for theUAV; and displaying the navigation suggestion.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising overriding controller inputs from a controller deviceto control the UAV to execute the navigation suggestion.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the physical space data comprises pre-mapped datafor the flight area.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein receivingphysical space data comprises receiving, in real-time, sensor data fromat least one sensor on the UAV.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the atleast one sensor comprises at least one of a camera, an infra-red (IR)sensor, a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a proximitysensor, a radar, or a sonar sensor.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereincreating the virtual world model occurs in real-time and usessimultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the flight data comprises sensor data from at least one sensoron the UAV.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the sensor data comprisesat least one of speed, altitude, direction, wind speed, wind direction.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the flight data comprises sensor datafrom at least one external sensor in the flight area.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the flight data comprises controller inputs from acontroller device.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining thepredicted trajectory of the UAV is by an inertial navigation system(INS) using a dead reckoning algorithm to calculate the current positionof the UAV.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining thenavigation suggestion comprises calculating a faster possible trajectoryfor the flight area based on the predicted trajectory.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the navigation suggestion is determined and updated inreal-time.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the capability parametersinclude at least one of maximum speed, maximum acceleration, maximumdeceleration, or turning rate.
 15. The method of claim 1, whereindisplaying the navigation suggestion comprises displaying a graphicaluser interface (GUI) on a head-mounted display (HMD).
 16. A system forassisted steering, comprising: a receiver module configured to: receivephysical space data for a flight area; and receive flight data for theUAV; a processing module configured to: create a virtual world model torepresent the flight area by mapping the physical space data with aphysics engine; create a virtual UAV model to represent the UAV in thevirtual world model; determine capability parameters for the UAV;determine a predicted trajectory for the virtual UAV model within thevirtual world model, based on the capability parameters and flight datafor the UAV; and determine a navigation suggestion for the UAV based onthe predicted trajectory and capability parameters for the UAV; adisplay configured to: display the navigation suggestion; and a memorycoupled to the processing module for storing data.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the physical space data comprises pre-mapped data forthe flight area.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein receiving physicalspace data comprises receiving, in real-time, sensor data from at leastone sensor on the UAV.
 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the flightdata comprises sensor data from at least one sensor on the UAV.
 20. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein determining the predicted trajectory of theUAV comprises an inertial navigation system (INS) using a dead reckoningalgorithm to calculate the current position of the UAV.